Rakeeb

Folks play the strongest sets. The preponderance of SS/Fire brutes should indicate that. The lack of EM across the bulk of the meta points to its inability to compete.

The revised, revised view is:

wait for i24 patch notes.

All the powersets in the game require review, all the time.

That's what you do with a persistent world - everything is under constant review and nothing is sacred. You nerf what you have to, and you buff what you have to. I don't care about anyone's opinion in the matter. ED didn't offend me, for instance - I thought it was 100% required and not nearly enough.

In this particular case, when the game was created the development team had no clear goals about comparative set performance when most of these sets were created. When Castle took over, his overriding objective was to make sure that underperforming sets were brought up to a minmal par, and he blew off any other requests to fix things. This current dev team appears to see the value in comparative balance, but they are too timid to roll out the world-shattering changes that are necessary to fix the game, because they fear the subscriber base crying like the immature children that they are. Ultimus's Blaster Nuke post is a perfect example of that reaction. Comic book fans fear change as a rule; this community is composed of comic book fans.

Don't hold your breath on fixes.

I'll agree that Khelds need a holistic overhaul. I also think that the devs don't have the stones to do it.

Enjoy playing your underpowered squids, you'll always be weaker than brutes and scrappers.

There's probably a mod that can alter the life of the forum cookie from "8" hours to "65535" hours or some such, whatever the maximum of the variable used can handle.

I'm sure if you hit up any one of them, they'll direct you to the proper Dev; that said, Protean is the one I've seen posting about it, so I'd agree with Samuraiko.

Better the marketeer you know than the one you don't?

My play experience follows a pattern:

I realize I haven't played in a while, come back, ooh and aah at the various changes and updates.

I mess around for awhile and have fun, and slowly start to participate with the community again.

I begin to notice balance issues on various teams and leagues. I bring them up to the community and get roundly shouted down for various reasons.

I get angry and bitter, and leave again until I forget why I left in the first place and hey there's some cool new powersets!

So yeah, it's a cycle.

Ultimately this topic isn't worth worrying about, and I regret making it. The devs don't care about set balance anyway.

Story-wise, I'd like to see the original bunch of contacts matter to anyone. Dr. Cheng was the coolest contact I had worked for when originally leveling. I wish we had more with those guys.

I would. I'd be employed by Blizzard. Word is they're pretty good at their jobs.

EDIT: If you folks are that terrified of change, we're done here. There's nothing to discuss if your entrenched position is, "Change that makes me play my toon differently is bad".

yeah I don't think the devs have given up on the AT either, I just think that they need to take stronger measures to catch the AT up to the rest of the set. Whether they'll make the AT like others is a question mark, but in its current state it's got bits of underpowered scrapper, tank and blaster in there, so that's what I went with, and removed or radically changed the largely-unsupported control and support elements. Honestly, I don't think the devs will use anything like that.

Alls I'm after is meaningful discussion, DK, and the ability to stretch my brain muscles in quantifying and adding ideas.

EDIT: I'm a guy that believes heavily in balance, more so than I fear homogenization. Very few other people agree with that, so I know my ideas are typically in the negative to begin with.

I really thought about that, which brought on some real implications in kit. For instance, let's say that we make Glowing Touch or Reform Essence into an AOE setup - like have Reform Essence provide the PBAOE component and have Glowing Touch provide the single-target component, to match Thermal and Empathy. What do we do then? I pushed it a little bit - drop Pulsar for some kind of group AOE buff thing based on clarity of vision (CC protection, ToHit, maybe some +Defense or something similar) and then come up with a fourth defender-esque power. I figured between that and very heavy power pool dipping it might just be possible to play a Peacebringer as a defender-esque force multiplier, killing minions with Nova AOE's and keeping the team alive with heals while being incredibly hard to kill.

The thing is, while the defender playstyle does vary wildly, it typically has a few constants, primary among which is that the defender is rarely a "hard" target. If the mobs can hit the defender, the defender is injured or defeated. So therefore how do we replicate that performance in a set with as many powerful defensive implications as one with Luminous Aura and still preserve the scrapper-ish playstyle? The answer is pretty simple: as long as we have the current paradigm, you don't.

I also messed around with changing the Peacebringer entirely away from a scrapper kit to make it a tank-defender, remove Bright Nova and replace it with something appropriately defender-ish, but then the idea just died because a defender who was very hard to kill is something that this game doesn't do, period. We can have tank-mages, if you will, but we do NOT have tank-buffers and we likely never will. The closest that we got to that was Masterminds and their force multipliers dropped in comparative value like rocks.

honestly a bounce back and forth between Aim and Build Up at very high enhancement levels will probably equal or outperform a Devices set, although it'd be pretty close since the Devices set would have Aim.

I dunno. That's a very complex question, especially since in a Trial it'd be the rare League indeed that didn't have some kind of +ToHit.

50% damage bonus from Defiance is a *lot* of Defiance. Most sets average between 35-45% on a consistent basis. Certain Blasters (Electric comes to mind) can manipulate that somewhat with very long animation abilities but it's not something that I'd expect to see on a regular basis.

If I had my way, I'd change the following powers. Some of this is trivial, and some of it is (very) non-trivial.

Concept Guide:
Dwarf: Tank
Nova: Blaster
Human: Scrapper

GLOBAL

Peacebringer/General: Damage cap raised to 500%. Health cap raised to 2600.

Peacebringer/General: Peacebringers are no longer locked out of the Flight and Teleport Power Pools.

Peacebringer/General: Peacebringers receive Energy Flight and Combat Flight as they do now; they also gain Flash Step as a natural power at level 20.

Peacebringer/Flash Step: Functions as White Dwarf Teleport, but can be used in Human or Dwarf forms.

Peacebringer/General: Toggle Suppression added for all Peacebringer powers. The Peacebringer self-suppresses when transformed.

Peacebringer/General: Luminance - New mechanic. Each successful Peacebringer attack places a stack of Luminance on the target. This reduces Defense by 3%, Resistance by 5%, Perception by 15%, and Regeneration Rate on the target by 10%. Stacks up to 5 times, each stack lasting 10 seconds. Certain powers are modified by the presence of Luminance on the target. All Peacebringer abilities no longer apply defense debuffs, and no Peacebringer ability will accept Defense Debuff enhancements unless specifically noted further.

Peacebringer/Cosmic Balance: Scaled down and broadened. Up to 20 party or league members can now contribute to Cosmic Balance. Cosmic Balance is now a 5% Defense bonus for each offensive member of your party and a 10% Damage bonus for each defensive member of your party. Control party member effects are unchanged. Epic AT effects are now 10% resistance to Slow, Recharge Speed, Defense Debuff Resistance, Endurance Cost resistance, Endurance Drain resistance, regeneration resistance, and recovery resistance. Each ability caps at 5 members.

LUMINOUS BLAST

Peacebringer/Gleaming Bolt: increase damage to 39.34 and recharge to 3s.

Peacebringer/Glinting Eye: increase damage to 65.73 and recharge to 7s; change animation time to 1.33 (1.484 Arcana).

Peacebringer/Gleaming Blast: increase damage to 94.14 and recharge to 10s. When in Bright Nova form, Gleaming Blast can benefit from Luminance on the target. Gleaming Blast will deal an extra 4.66 damage per stack of Luminance on the target.

Peacebringer/Bright Nova: Complete change. No more Bright Nova attacks; instead core Peacebringer attacks are modified. Increases damage scale on all Ranged attacks to 1.2 from 0.8. Locks the Peacebringer out of all melee attacks and self-buffs; only Gleaming Bolt, Glinting Eye, Gleaming Blast, Inner Light, Proton Scatter, Luminous Detonation, and Dawn Strike are accessible in Bright Nova form. These powers must be acquired by the Peacebringer prior to being available to Bright Nova. All attacks' Range are boosted by 20% in addition to the baseline Bright Nova buff line of 45% Damage, 10% ToHit, and 20% Recovery. Good thing the code exists to do this from Primalist work.

Peacebringer/Brilliant Fist: New ability. Available at level 6. Damage scale 1.4, 66.05 base damage, recharge 6s, end cost 6.86. Places a stack of Luminance on the target. Small chance (20%) to Disorient the target, mag 2. This is essentially a Smite clone.

Peacebringer/Proton Scatter: Cast time changed to 1.5 (1.716 Arcana). Otherwise unchanged.

Peacebringer/Inner Light: All attacks apply +1 stacks of Luminance while under the effects of Inner Light.

Peacebringer/Luminous Detonation: Unchanged.

Peacebringer/Radiant Strike: Moved to level 18. Unchanged otherwise.

Peacebringer/Challenge: New ability, learned at level 18. Taunts a single enemy. In Dwarf form, Challenge gains an AOE. No ToHit check; no application of Luminance.

Peacebringer/Pulsar: Animation time changed to 1 second; Magnitude remains at 2.0 strength. Pulsar also blinds its targets, placing a -10% ToHit and -50% Perception on each target, lasting the same duration as the Disorient. Pulsar additionally places a stack of Luminance on any affected targets.

Peacebringer/Glowing Touch: CUT. Power slot moved up to become Challenge.

Peacebringer/Incandescent Strike: Moved to level 26 from level 18. Damage and recharge unchanged. Incandescent Strike can benefit from Luminance on the target. Incandescent Strike will deal an extra 11.10 damage per stack of Luminance on the target.

Peacebringer/Solar Flare: Unchanged.

Peacebringer/Photon Seekers: Recharge changed from 180s to 90s. Spawns 6 Photon Seekers rather than three; each deals half of previous Photon Seeker damage values. Power unmodified otherwise. Intent is to allow the power to be more flexible without changing the fundamental nature of the power, and to allow it to be used more often.

Peacebringer/Dawn Strike: Endurance cost raised to 27.76, recharge reduced to 145 seconds from 360; crash removed. Dawn Strike can benefit from Luminance on the target, and will deal an extra 14.80 damage per stack of Luminance. When in Bright Nova form, Luminance will function as a Targeted AOE rather than a PBAOE ability, but will be unchanged otherwise.

LUMINOUS AURA

Peacebringer/Incandescence: Now provides 10% passive Energy and Negative Energy resistance, and also provides 25% Slow and Recharge Time resistance.

Peacebringer/Shining Shield: Now provides 27% Smashing/Lethal Resistance, and 10% Psionic and Toxic resistance. The Psionic and Toxic resistance is Unenhanceable. Shining Shield also grants 25% Defense Debuff resistance. Endurance cost lowered to 0.21/sec.

Peacebringer/Essence Boost: Unchanged.

Peacebringer/Thermal Shield: Now provides 27% Fire/Cold Resistance, and 10% Psionic and Toxic resistance. The Psionic and Toxic resistance is Unenhanceable. Thermal Shield also grants 25% Recovery and Endurance Drain resistance. Endurance cost lowered to 0.21/sec.

Peacebringer/Quantum Shield: Now provides 27% Energy and Negative Energy Resistance, and 10% Psionic and Toxic resistance. The Psionic and Toxic resistance is Unenhanceable. Also provides scaling Mag 0.67-Mag 5.13 resistance to Hold, Disorient, Sleep, and Fear effects. Endurance cost lowered to 0.21/sec.

Peacebringer/Radiance: New ability, replaces Group Energy Flight, available at level 16. Radiance is a toggle power that provides a scaling +Def bonus and also radiates energy onto the foes, pulsing a stack of Luminance onto up to 10 targets in range every 2 seconds. The +Def from your Radiance is highest from the first foe targeted, and has a cap of 10 targets. In White Dwarf form, Radiance also applies a Taunt to all enemies affected by Radiance. Endurance cost is 0.21/sec, recharge is 10s.

Peacebringer/White Dwarf: Complete change. No more White Dwarf attacks; instead core Peacebringer attacks are modified. Decreases damage on all Melee and PBAoE abilities from 0.85 to 0.75. Locks the Peacebringer out of many abilities; only Flash Step, Brilliant Fist, Radiant Strike, Challenge, Incandescent Strike, Solar Flare, Essence Boost, Radiance, and Reform Essence are accessible in White Dwarf form. These powers must be acquired by the Peacebringer prior to being available to White Dwarf. All attack abilities also provide a 5 target AoE Taunt effect, similar to Gauntlet. White Dwarf itself provides 37.5% Resistance to all abilities, 200% Regeneration resistance, tank-level Hold/Sleep/Fear/Disorient/Knockdown resistance(capping at 12.98) and +80% Max Health. Good thing the code exists to do this from Primalist work.

Peacebringer/Reform Essence: Unchanged normally. When used in Dwarf Form, it uses the current base health modifier of White Dwarf Sublimation, 45% of max HP.

Peacebringer/Energize: Changed from Conserve Energy. This ability has a 30s duration / 120s recharge, boosts Regeneration by 100%, reduces Endurance costs by 59.6%, and incorporates a 25% Heal. A clone of all other Energize powers.

Peacebringer/Quantum Acceleration: Unchanged for now. I think that it should be moved to Inherent, but I haven't got a suitable replacement that's not just a passive clone from another set.

Peacebringer/Quantum Flight: Unchanged.

Peacebringer/Restore Essence: Unchanged for now. I think that this can be better, but I'd rather not just clone Rise of the Phoenix and give it tentacles.

Peacebringer/Light Form: Significant nerf. Resistance bonus lowered to +22.5% to all damage types save Psionic. Recovery bonus and Mez resistances unchanged. Crash removed.

So that's the overhaul I'd do given the chance. A few points of note:

1. Endurance Drain is the achilles' heel of the Dwarf as designed here. It gets mild resistances from Thermal Shield when acting as a Scrapper, but obviously cannot benefit from that in Dwarf form. Energize and Light Form can get a Dwarf by assuming it's not a nonstop fight, a quick swap out and in can fix it.

2. Luminance is not designed to be utilized by many attacks for extra damage per stack. Only three attacks here use it, one of which requires you to be in Bright Nova form, and that's by design. It's already quite good for the Peacebringer and doesn't need to be better.

3. This is designed to have more abilities than you can effectively slot if you choose to try to go Triform, because now the shields are good now, Light Form isn't a one-power-for-invincibility card, and Radiance/Energize will eat slots to be effective. Compromises will have to be made at certain points if you're committing to go Triform. It rewards a player who is trying to play one area more tightly than the others - be it a Scrapper build with an off-Blaster component or a guy who wants to swap between Nova and Dwarf.

4. Pulsar is still a stretch. I could see cutting it entirely.

Have at it, fellas, let me know what you think.

EDIT: In case anyone is thinking that a full AT overhaul example is a good way to give feedback to the devs: It's not. The devs aren't interested in people telling them what to do. This is essentially a thought and stats analysis/implementation project for me at this point, and all I hope to do is cause meaningful discussion and actual numbers-based suggestions. I'll probably use something similar to this in D&D / Pathfinder at some point for my mobs, have a roomful of dudes who can all stack Luminance on the target, that sort of thing.